This past Saturday the Museum of Science and Industry welcomed nearly 700 guests to celebrate the 31st Black Creativity gala raising $360,000 for the Museum’s science initiatives. This year’s event was co-chaired by Museum of Science of Industry trustee Frank Clark (Ret. ComED Chairman and CEO) and Cheri Chappelle (Director of diversity and inclusion for ITW).
Upon arrivals for cocktails guests had the opportunity to engage with students and their projects for the Science Achievers program as well as take in the different artwork on display.
Emcee for the evening Alicia Roman of NBC Chicago welcomed guests and David Mosena, President and CEO of the Museum also made a few remarks. 2 students that have benefitted from the science programs, Alexis Peters and Irving Hernandez addressed guests where Mr. Hernandez went explain how being part of the program has helped him see a future for himself and now wants to go on to college and major in engineering.
After cocktails, guests headed to the Museum’s Rotunda where they enjoyed a lavish strolling buffet catered by Sodexo.
The annual event is a collaboration with a committee of prominent Chicago African-American leaders, raises money to support the annual Black Creativity programming and events, which pay tribute to the culture, heritage and science contributions of African Americans and help motivate youth in the sciences.
Following dinner, guests really let loose to the sounds of the band Gentlemen of Leisure playing everything from current to classic hits, they were fantastic!
The Black Creativity Juried Art Exhibition which opened January 22 will run through February 23. It features 85 dynamic works from both professional and amateur African-American artists from around the country, including nine artworks from eight youth artists between the ages of 14 to 17.
New this year to the Black Creativity program is the Innovation Studio, an exciting space for youth to experiment and explore new ideas through making. Powered by guests’ own curiosity and inspired by science-related challenges, guests will have ac- cess to a variety of materials and tools to create their solutions to issues.
Photo: James Foster Photgraphy for SociaLifeChicago
